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Does this sentence portray fronting or inversion?

Only later did it become evident that they were not satisfied with the offer.

KillingTime
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vanessa
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2 Answers2

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Only later did it become evident that they were not satisfied with the offer.

It has subject-auxiliary inversion as a result of fronting.

This occurs in declarative clauses only when certain types of element are put in front position. Negatives are one very obvious type of element that trigger subject-auxiliary inversion when fronted:

Never had I seen such chaos.

At no stage were they in danger.

"Only" is not negative, but it is semantically close to a negative, in that "Only John liked it", for example, entails "No one other than John liked it". The inversion is also found with some items that are not similar to negatives:

John enjoyed it and so did Robert.

BillJ
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Sample: Only later did it become evident that they were not satisfied with the offer.

It can be the inversion of:

  • It did become evident only later that they were not satisfied with the offer.

So it's inversion with emphatic do-support with did. Do-support is required in inversions. You cannot do this: Only later it became evident...that is agrammatical in English.

If you remove the emphatic do (do-support), it would read as below and be a re-writing:

  • It became evident only later that they were not satisfied with the offer. OR
  • It only became evident later that they were not satisfied with the offer

And "only later" in that construction can be considered fronting in the sample as that adverbial phrase usually goes after the verb.

Lambie
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    That’s not an emphatic do. The did is required for the inversion, just like a question. Did it become evident? It became evident. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 22 '24 at 15:58
  • @TinfoilHat Only later did it become evident versus it only became evident later. I think it is. The question is a question. Using the inversion "Only later did it become" versus "become" alone is not just using did or become. – Lambie Mar 22 '24 at 22:56
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    Under do-support on wikipedia: Negative inversion The same principles as for question formation apply to other clauses in which subject–auxiliary inversion is required, particularly after negative expressions and expressions involving only (negative inversion): Never did he run that fast again. (wrong: Never he did run that fast again. Never ran he that fast again.) And it is also emphatic* because otherwise it would be: He never ran that fast again. – Lambie Mar 23 '24 at 13:12
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    Never did he run that fast again is the inverted version of He never ran that fast again, where there is no emphatic do. The do in the inverted version appears because of the inversion; it is not suddenly there for emphasis. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 23 '24 at 15:18
  • @TinfoilHat He did run that fast again. Emphatic did. Then, it becomes inverted due to: "Only later": Only later did he run that fast again. – Lambie Mar 23 '24 at 15:25